Monday, July 23, 2007

Yesterday Joao and I celebrated our 2 year and a half anniversary – I was (still am) recovering from a horrible flu that got me last week so we decided to stay in and celebrate it at home.
A nice meal made with love was mandatory!! :)

The recipe for the fish was taken from the July issue of Bon Appétit – I adapted some details. If you want to make it like the one in the magazine, use halibut instead of Saint Peter fish (Tilapia) and spring onions instead of chives.
I seasoned the fish with garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper and marinated the fillets for 2 hours, even though it’s not asked in the recipe.

The potatoes were taken from this book, and they were delicious – the only problem was that I used waxed paper instead of parchment paper and I had to peel the potato spears off the paper. Next time, a spritz of cooking spray will do the trick – thank you, Lydia, for the hint on the spray, I’ve been using it like crazy! :)

Finely chop basil and chives in a mini food processor. Add butter, 2 tablespoons at a time, and process until blended, stopping occasionally to scrape down sides. Transfer to a small bowl, stir in lemon zest and season with salt – I used a little freshly ground black pepper, too.
Prepare barbecue (medium heat) or grilling pan.
Rub fish fillets on both sides with olive oil. Grill until fillets are just opaque in center, about 4 minutes per side.
Transfer fish to plates and immediately spread some basil butter over fish.
Serve, passing additional basil butter alongside.

Preheat the oven to 220ºC/425ºF.
In a wide shallow bowl, whisk the egg whites with 1 teaspoon salt until frothy.
Cut each potato into 6 long spears; add to the egg whites and turn to coat.
One at a time, lift the spears out of the egg whites shaking off excess.
Working over a plate, sprinkle with the parmesan cheese until coated (do not shake the excess). Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Bake without turning until the potatoes are fork-tender and golden brown – about 30 minutes.
Season with salt and pepper before serving.

Sorry to hear about your flu, Patricia. A bad one, and you are in no condition to do anything at all, but stay in bed. We recently celebrated our 43rd Engagement Day.(July 4th) So, good luck to both of you!

From one thing to another... maybe a stupid question.. What´s the difference between parchment paper, wax paper and baking paper? (In Sweden we only have one single name for those papers).

Meeta, thank you - we both liked it a lot and João is not into fish. :)

Susan, I am, thank you! My voice is still funny, though. :)I love Martha and I'm in love with that book, sweetie, but I totally respect your point of view - I've learned that many of my favorite foodies don't like her that much. :)Time has flown, I can tell! :)

Nora, thank you! We popped a bottle of wine, too, even though I was still on my flu meds - bad girl! :DI do hope you try the fries, they're wonderful!

Tanna, you are so sweet, my dear friend. Thank you. Your comment has put a smile on my face!

Janet, what's not to like here, with potatoes and cheese?? :D

Hey, sweetie, thank you! I really like sharing my food with you and the other readers!

Lydia, thanks! I am feeling better, back to work already.

Ellie, the fish was delicious and I think it would have worked well baked, too!

Jenn, thank you! I agree, sweetie!

Hey, sweetie, my husband is not into fish either and he loved this dish - I think that the herb butter makes it a lot more special.

Bri, tks, sweetie! I would trade them for some of your desserts... Some, not one, OK? ;)

HungryKat, good question! I don't know because I'm not familiar with purple yams - I think that if they're not too wet it would work fine!Cheese makes everything better. ;)

Karin, I stayed in bed Friday and Saturday, recovering, and I'm glad I did because I feel better already.That Engagement Day sounds great - and what a nice coincidence, my blog written in Portuguese was "born" in July 4, too! :)Not stupid at all - parchment paper is the brown one, similar to supermarket paper bags. And baking paper and waxed paper are pretty much the same, but waxed is shinier and smoother because of the wax - that all from a Brazilian point of view. :D

Lynn, we like celebrating the halves, too! :)

Jeff, thank you! :)

Truffle, thank you - we had fun!

Pam, thanks! I would love to hear your opinion on the fries, maybe even see them on your blog, I'd be honored! :)

Wendy, this fish is very popular here yet this was my first time cooking with it.The butter is delicious and the magazine says you can spread it over chicken and shrimp, too! :)

Happy Anniversary Patricia...congrats. My 7th year anniversary is tomorrow :). Glad you are feeling better from the flu too. This tilapia looks scrumptious...I just harvested a bunch of chives from my friends yard...guess i'll have to get basil too and make this .

Happy Anniversary to the two of you!!! Tilapia is a favorite fish of mine...it's easily available here so we always use it :) I'll be adding this to my list of tilapia dishes...thanks! (The fries sound great too!)

First, happy anniversary to you and Joao! What a perfect way to celebrate. Second, glad you're finally feeling better, Patricia.

And now the food. Wow. The title of the post alone got my mouth watering. And the recipes completely delivered. I bet the basil-chive butter would also be great on grilled chicken or steaks. But there's something about the lightness of fish that probably works especially well with it.

Lisa, it's so nice to have you visiting me here! Thanks!I'm glad you liked this recipe, I always try to add more fish to our meals.

Ari, I couldn't agree with you more - I miss our emails! I'm gonna write to you today!Your last post moved me, did you know that? That sort of rice pudding reminds me so much of my mom!xoxo

Tigerfish, tough question! To be honest, my husband picked the potatoes and he doesn't know about these things... They worked very well, but I don't the which kind he bought! :)I wonder if the yams would go well with Parmesan - as for being baked, I think they would work fine!

Toni, tks! I know, on the first days of the flu I couldn't taste anything, awful! :(I love fish, too, and I'm always looking for different ways to make it!You are so sweet, my friend! I am lucky to have him, too. :)Beijos!

Tatter, thank you! I'm so glad you stopped by! We did have fun together!

Amanda, thank you! That butter is really good, I want to try it with chicken!

Terry, thank you, my dear friend! That butter would be wonderful on so many things, it's really delicious - I'm a huge fan of herbs, I was immediately drawn to this recipe the minute I saw it on the magazine.

Carol, tks!! I've been drinking tons of water and tea, thank you for your concern!